[Bjornboy81]

My girlfriend bought me an iPod Nano (4Gig) a few weeks ago, I was thrilled! When I got all my songs loaded, I was more than disappointed. With the EQ on, it distorted at any level, any song (other than classical). Even with the EQ off, I can still hear some clipping on some songs. What?

So I went to the Apple store and told the guy the problem, got a new one and it still does it! He insisted that it should distort/clip at all. I've tried different bit rates, MP3's, AAC's, etc....still sucks. Tried it with and without an amp...same suckyness.

I checked the Apple website forum, and this seems to be a common problem. I've heard so many good things about the SQ of these things, and I'm very disappointed. I don't even consider myself an audiophile.

I'm going to try the line out to my CMoy and see if that helps. Do you guys have an suggestions, fixes, tips, tricks? Please help. I'm tempted to say screw it and try another brand.

Thanks guys and gals,
paul

 

[barqy]

try a line out dock?

www.qables.com

 

[freeone-j]

Where are you getting music from, are you burning it from a CD, from a store???

 

[vcoheda]

lossless + lineout + dac + amp = my ipod no longer sucks (or sucks less, depending on your budget).

edit: didn't see that you had a nano. maybe lossless not the way to go. takes up too much space.

 

[Filburt]

Hmm, what music are you listening to? A decent amount of modern recordings are pretty 'hot' and have some distortion, which can be aggrivated by EQ if it's the kind that amplifies rather than attenuates. The fact that you're using compression shouldn't really be an issue unless there is something wrong in the iPod or wrong with your encoder, as the codecs (MP3, AAC, etc.) don't apply dynamic compression or adjust amplitude in this manner, so there'd have to be some intervening DSP involved (such as an EQ, for instance). Therefore, I don't think use of lossless will ameliorate the problem. If I can get more information about what's going on, maybe I can help you with your problem

 

[TheMarchingMule]

Yeeeah, I would say it is your songs that are mastered hella hot.

If not, try to replace the iPod at a different Apple store. For me, I had my fair share of experience with Nintendo DS consoles and iPods doing so.

For instance, a Target store; their whole stock of DS had dead pixels; I went through 5 of them before I gave up. Went to Best Buy; perfect.

Kinda same story with Apple, but you get the point.

 

[tomb]

For what it's worth, I've had the same problem. My daughter gave me her 2nd Gen 20Gb iPod and I can make that thing clip on almost anything. Lately, I've been trying to turn the volume all the way up and seems to work a bit better. (I'm always trying to connect it to a headphone amp - none of this is listening directly.)

I read somewhere where Tangent said to turn the thing up quite a bit, because the dynamic range is not fully digital until the last little bit of volume. That supposedly causes the clipping.

I'm not convinced. Offboard DACs with orig. CD's in a PC drive are the best for me, with FLAC files through the DAC a close second. Then comes older CD players, etc. The iPod is the bottom of the list so far.

 

[TURBO]

You need to replaygain those files. That's all your problem. Look for Mp3 gain, the program.

 

[Bjornboy81]

It's not the type of music or the ripping. This is definitly clipping. It distorts during kick drum hits, and hard bass lines. It'll distorts on anything from Fall Out Boy to Dave Matthews. Like I said, I've tried ripping different formats, lossless, AAC, yada yada yada, and nothing works.

The Line out Dock won't help, I use this for biking and working out and stuff, so I need something portable. I do listen sometimes at home, but I'd like one thing that'll fix this all the time......you know, maybe like an iPod that works!

vcoheda, lossless is so not an option with only 4Gigs. I personally can't hear a difference anyways between 192Kps and lossless. Course, this is coming straight from my computer with no special DAC or nice amp or anything.


Quote:

Originally Posted by TURBO /img/forum/go_quote.gif You need to replaygain those files. That's all your problem. Look for Mp3 gain, the program.

What do you mean? What does this program do? EDIT: I'm trying it now...


Thanks for the suggestions so far guys. I think right now, I'll wait for my Line out cable to come, hook it to my amp and see if that helps.

Apple is evil.

 

[TURBO]

Doesn't matter if you get a line out or not. If the files clip, there is nothing you could do, hardware wise. MP3Gain will automatically adjusts mp3s so all files have the same volume and adjust the volume of your files, so they don't clip.

As a suggestion, play with some files until you get familiar with this powerful program.

Here: http://mp3gain.sourceforge.net/index.php

 

[Bjornboy81]

I'm going to have to play with this program some more then...I just tried it and it still clips with the EQ on.

 

[TURBO]

There are some Mp3gain guides in the internet. Just google it. They show everything step by step with pics. Learn it, master it and your clipping files will be history.

TURBO

 

[Jamey Warren]

What kind of headphones are you using?

Seems that might be a factor. If you're trying to use a headphone that is really demanding, that could be the problem. Or, your headphones could be just 'reaching their potential'.

 

[Filburt]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bjornboy81 /img/forum/go_quote.gif It's not the type of music or the ripping. This is definitly clipping. It distorts during kick drum hits, and hard bass lines. It'll distorts on anything from Fall Out Boy to Dave Matthews. Like I said, I've tried ripping different formats, lossless, AAC, yada yada yada, and nothing works. The Line out Dock won't help, I use this for biking and working out and stuff, so I need something portable. I do listen sometimes at home, but I'd like one thing that'll fix this all the time......you know, maybe like an iPod that works! vcoheda, lossless is so not an option with only 4Gigs. I personally can't hear a difference anyways between 192Kps and lossless. Course, this is coming straight from my computer with no special DAC or nice amp or anything. What do you mean? What does this program do? EDIT: I'm trying it now... Thanks for the suggestions so far guys. I think right now, I'll wait for my Line out cable to come, hook it to my amp and see if that helps. Apple is evil.

Lossless isn't going to do anything for you. The only thing it is likely to solve is if you are playing music that is managing to elude the modern psy models which are very well tuned at this point. It is not really a catch-all sort of solution to portable audio woes, though Head-fiers seem to frequently throw it out as a suggestion as if it were.

What headphones are you using? It's something I should have asked in the first place, but forgot. Secondly, have you checked to make sure that your ripping program isn't applying some sort of gain? Have you tried tracks ripped by any other program? I think some indie labels and maybe others also have free samples available on the internet. Maybe you could try one of those and see if it clips?

Edit: I see jamey asked you about headphones as well ^_^

 

[Bjornboy81]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamey /img/forum/go_quote.gif What kind of headphones are you using? Seems that might be a factor. If you're trying to use a headphone that is really demanding, that could be the problem. Or, your headphones could be just 'reaching their potential'.

I'm using the standard earbuds and my Grado SR80's. Even with an amp it clips. It does it at all volume levels too, so it's not a headphone problem. Thanks though.

TURBO, Played around some more to no avail. I'll search around and find a good guide.

Right now I'm going to bed....too tired for this sht.